scoping out the U of I area (relocation...with kids) (Chicago: rental, houses)

[jms_ladybug]

so... we are a midatlantic family facing a possible relocation to the University of Illinois in july or august. The hubs and I grew up in the Chicago 'burbs but have lived out here since '98. I have been researching homes/areas and this forum and I will be honest- I am a little nervous! We are in a small college town that is very quiet, very safe and very quaint. We have five children and I am second guessing the idea of my husband going on to the next round of interviews at the university! . The big news story for a week here was a highschool senior that drown in a local river. Large families in our area are not super out of the ordinary- several doors down lives a fmaily with 9 kids! But looking at the demographics of U/C I think we may be an oddity WHile our little town has flurished in recent years, Our closest mall or bulk store is a good 20-25 minutes away and we are okay with that. I am wondering if we should venture to the outlying areas? schoools aren't a huge concern as we are all set up to start home schooling in the fall (there is a huge HS community here) but we want to keep the hubs commute comfortable (it is a nightmere right now 45 miles= 2 hour drive)

anyone want to offer their input?

[chet everett]

There is a thread from a few weeks ago that dealt with the various options for living near enough to the campus to make for a pleasant commute and good quality of life. One of the pluses about the region around Champaign and Urbana is that traffic tie-up are all but non-existent for day-to-day commutes. You could easily cover 50 miles in under an hour, though honestly you can almost certainly find a nice spot much closer.

Among the local professors and such I suspect that large families are rather uncommon and even among the more agriculturally oriented local towns five kids is a big family these days. The shifts to large farms that depend on automation really changed the motivations to have a passel of children... There are good safe school nearby, and even the most affordable parts of Chambana are quite tame compared to worst spots in truly urban areas.

I would not let the paucity of large families make UofI a negative. Most if not all of the major departments are among the top of the Big Ten and well rated nationally. Pay / benefit issues may come up in the future, due to the irresponsible ways of our state legislatures, but this alread on the radar of the UofI administration and they will likely be in better shape than many state supported universities because of the relative tight network of successful alumni.

Good Luck!

[jms_ladybug]

thanks! Mahomet is looking pretty favoriable as far as housing is concerned- how is the commute from there? (He is not a professor, but in finance... maybe the admin having a good radar is why they contaced him LOL) we are not keen on moving back to Ill, but this would be a great career move for him so we are kind of letting it all play out and will see what happens. Mamma bear likes to have her ducks in a row and part of my process is knowing everything I can before I NEED to know it!

[linicx]

The campus has 35.000 students and teachers. I've heard store owners say it is like a ghost town when the students leave at Christmas and summer. U-C combined is about half the Size of Springfield.

To keep the ducks in a row you need to understand between June 1 and Aug 1 is the rental season. If you are quite positive you are coming to U-C I would not delay in finding a house.

You may like Urbana. It is the County Seat of Champaign County with a population of under $40,000. It is a business town and probably not quite as fractious as a main campus college town. The University locates post graduate students in Urbana.

This is farm and ranch country. If Internet is important you may find the speed is not terribly fast in Rural America; it never is. If it is important you may want to reconsider closer to the school.

City of Urbana
City of Champaign | Champaign, IL official website
http://www.stjosephillinois.org/
Village of Mahomet, Illinois*

[madpaddy]

If you're looking Mahomet you should also consider Monticello. Can't make a bad choice between the two. Monticello probably has more of the "quaint" small town feel, while Mahomet is a bit bigger with a higher income base. St Joseph is another near-by small town that's well regarded (mostly for schools), although its a little less aesthetically appealing. It really is little more than a grid of houses in a sea of corn and soybean fields while Monticello and Mahomet have a little more character, thanks in part to both having a small river that goes through town.

While the schools in all three towns are well above average, you would find other like-minded families that choose to home-school.

[madpaddy]

Originally Posted by linicx

U-C combined is about half the Size of Springfield.

Not true, U-C combined is slightly larger than Springfield (40k + 81k vs 116k)

[linicx]

I was thinking of the MSA.

Excepting most of Cook County, every settled area of Illinois from border to border is surrounded by, or confronted with, large bodies of water, major highways, crops, tree farms, heavily forested areas, or oil and gas fields. IL exports billions of products every year.

The Greater Peoria region exported more merchandise per capita than any other place in the United States in 2010, exporting $29,284 worth of merchandise per person. Regional exports totaled an estimated $11.1 billion.

Illinois is the #1 corn producer and #2 producer in the U.S. So yeah. if you move to Illinois and you do not live in a city you might live in a large natural area, or the Missssippi Flyway, or among farm fields, or near livestock. You don't move to the middle of Illinois for that NYC experience or the SoCAl surfers. If you are looking for aesthetics try the City on the Bay.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The only place I ever found the Garden of Eden was in a restaurant in Tulsa.
i .

[jms_ladybug]

Originally Posted by madpaddy

If you're looking Mahomet you should also consider Monticello. Can't make a bad choice between the two. Monticello probably has more of the "quaint" small town feel, while Mahomet is a bit bigger with a higher income base. St Joseph is another near-by small town that's well regarded (mostly for schools), although its a little less aesthetically appealing. It really is little more than a grid of houses in a sea of corn and soybean fields while Monticello and Mahomet have a little more character, thanks in part to both having a small river that goes through town.

While the schools in all three towns are well above average, you would find other like-minded families that choose to home-school.

THANK YOU!! Very helpful :-)